1. Field of the Invention
This present invention generally relates to spools. More specifically, the present invention relates to spinning-reel spool that is movable back and forth with respect to the reel unit.
2. Background Information
Spinning reels are in general furnished with a reel unit rotatively carrying a handle, a rotor, and a spool. The spinning-reel spool is movable back and forth with respect to the reel unit, and is furnished: with a fishing-line winding bobbin trunk; a front flange disposed on the front end of the bobbin trunk and having a larger outer diameter than the outer diameter of the bobbin trunk; and a cylindrical skirt provided rearward on the bobbin trunk. The fishing line scraping on the front flange easily scratches the front flange. Therefore, the front flange is often made as a separate member from the bobbin trunk.
Wherein a front flange is to be fixed to the bobbin trunk, conventionally it has been fastened using a flange-fastening member. Fastening is done, for example, by fixing the flange-fastening member to the bobbin trunk by means of bolts and sandwiching the front flange in between the bobbin trunk and the flange-fastening member.
Spools whose bobbin trunk is formed from, e.g., an aluminum-alloy sheet metal, in order to devise an overall lighter weight spool, are known among the spools of this sort.
The bobbin trunk in the foregoing conventional spool formed from sheet metal is fashioned to have thin thickness, and therefore the strength of the bobbin trunk is liable to deteriorate. That being the case, in order to heighten the strength of the bobbin trunk, thought has been given to installing an inner drum member made of a synthetic resin on the inner peripheral side of the bobbin trunk. It is conceivable in this case to fasten the flange-fastening member to the inner drum member, by fixing with bolts, such that the front flange is sandwiched between the bolts and the inner drum member.
Nevertheless, with a structure in which a plurality of screw-holes are formed in the inner drum member, and bolts passing through the flange-fastening member are screwed into the screw-holes-particularly in deep-channel spools whose front flange is large in outer diameter with respect to the diameter of the bobbin trunkxe2x80x94if screw-holes are to be formed in the front-end face of the inner drum member, the inner diameter of the inner drum member will be smaller. In spools fitted with a drag mechanism and spool-detaching/reattaching mechanisms, the interior space for accommodating these mechanisms will therefore be small, making it harder to accommodate these mechanisms. Likewise, as to the drag mechanism, the surface area of its disk elements will be made smaller, making it harder to obtain stronger drag force.
In view of the above, there exists a need for a spinning-reel spool which overcomes the above mentioned problems in the prior art. This invention addresses this need in the prior art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.
An object of the present invention is to provide a spinning-reel spool that is light in weight while securing sufficient interior space in the spool.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a spinning-reel spool that can be shifted back and forth with respect to the reel body includes: a bobbin trunk, an inner barrel member, a front flange, and a skirt. The bobbin trunk, outer circumferentially onto which fishing line is wound, is formed from sheet metal. The inner barrel member is installed inner-peripherally along the bobbin trunk, and has a male-threaded portion on its front end or rear end. The front flange is provided on the front end of the bobbin trunk and affixed to the inner barrel member using the male-threaded portion. The skirt is of diameter larger than the bobbin trunk, and is provided on the rear end of the bobbin trunk.
As for the bobbin trunk in this spool, an inner barrel member is installed along the inner-peripheral side of the sheet-metal-manufactured bobbin trunk, and a front flange is fastened to the inner barrel member using a male-threaded portion provided on the front or rear end of the inner barrel member. Wherein the male-threaded portion is provided on the front end of the inner barrel member, the front flange may be fastened there by screwing on a flange-fastening member, or else the front flange may be fastened to the inner barrel member by screw-joining the front flange itself onto the male-threaded portion. Wherein the male-threaded portion is provided on the rear end of the inner barrel member, a brim may be formed on the front-end outer peripheral face of the inner barrel member; and a nut member may be screw-joined onto the male-threaded portion with the front flange sandwiched in between the bobbin-trunk fore end and the brim, to press the bobbin trunk frontward and fasten the front flange. In whichever case, the front flange may be simply fastened using the male-threaded portion. Herein, the fact that the male-threaded portion is formed on the inner barrel member installed along the inner periphery of the sheet-metal-manufactured bobbin trunk, and the front flange is fastened using the male-threaded portion makes it so that the spool may be devised lightened in weight while securing sufficient interior space.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in the first aspect, the male-threaded portion is formed on the rear end of the inner barrel member so as to project rearward beyond the bobbin trunk. In situations where a drag mechanism is to be accommodated in the front portion of the inner barrel member, the fact in this case that the male-threaded portion is formed on the rear end of the inner barrel member lets sufficient interior space be secured for accommodating the drag mechanism.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a spool as in the second aspect, the skirt is formed integrally with the bobbin trunk by press-working the sheet metal, and has a rear flange extending peripherally outward on the rear of the bobbin trunk, and a round cylindrical portion extending rearward from the rear flange on its outer periphery; the inner barrel member on its fore end has a large-diameter brim to enable locking the front flange portion; and the front flange has a through-hole through which the inner barrel member outer circumferential surface excluding the brim is passable; and further includes a nut member having a female-threaded portion for screw-joining onto the male-threaded portion, and disposed against the rear flange for vising the front flange between the brim and bobbin trunk by screw-joining the female-threaded portion onto the male-threaded portion. In this case, after the front flange is fitted on the outer periphery of the inner barrel member and abutted on the brim, the bobbin trunk is fitted onto the inner barrel member, sandwiching the front flange between the bobbin-trunk fore end and the brim. In this situation, by screw-joining the nut member onto the male-threaded portion projecting rearward from the rear flange on the skirt, the bobbin trunk via the rear flange is pressed forward to fasten the front flange. Herein, because the nut member fastens the front flange from the rear, the fastening structure on the spool front, which is exposed to the exterior, is not exposed. The appearance of the spool therefore takes on a sharp outward look, and meanwhile fishing line is unlikely to snarl at the spool front.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in the third aspect, the nut member is made of synthetic resin. This condition maintains the corrosion resistance of the spool and serves to make it lighter weight.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in the first aspect, the male-threaded portion is formed on a radially inner periphery relative to the front end of the inner barrel member, so as to project frontward beyond the bobbin trunk. The fact that the male-threaded portion in this case is provided on the front end of the inner barrel member lets the front flange-which is situated on the front end of the inner barrel member-be readily fastened.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in the fifth aspect, the bobbin trunk has a cylindrical portion, and an inner flange portion formed integrally with the cylindrical portion and extending radially inward along the front end of the inner barrel member. In this case, the fact that an inner flange is formed extending radially inward along the front end of the cylindrical portion lets high strength be sustained in the bobbin trunk. Moreover, the inner barrel member reinforces the inner periphery of the cylindrical portion. This controls deformation of the spool even if a strong pressing force acts on the bobbin trunk, which accordingly prevents the line-intrusion due to spool deformation.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in the fifth or sixth aspect, the front flange has a first female-threaded portion for screw-joining onto the male-threaded portion, and is affixed to the inner barrel member by screw-joining a first female-threaded portion to the male-threaded portion. In this case, the fact that the front flange is screw-joined directly onto the male-threaded portion makes the front-flange fastening structure simpler.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in the seventh aspect, further including a flange-fastening member disposed at the front of the front flange and having a second female-threaded portion for screw-joining onto the male-threaded portion; wherein the front flange is stopped against turning by screw-joining the second female-threaded portion onto the male-threaded portion. In this case, the flange-fastening member can be fastened, and looseness in the front flange stopped, simultaneously by screw-joining the second female-threaded portion of the flange-fastening member onto the male-threaded portion.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in the seventh or eighth aspect, by screw-joining the first female-threaded portion onto the male-threaded portion, the front flange, between it and the inner barrel member, sandwiches the inner flange portion and fastens the bobbin trunk to the inner barrel member. In this case, fastening of the bobbin trunk may be realized by means of the front flange, which simplifies the structure for fastening the bobbin trunk.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in the fifth or sixth aspect, further includingxe2x80x94wherein the front flange has a through-hole for passing the male-threaded portionxe2x80x94a flange-fastening member having a female-threaded portion for screw-joining onto the male-threaded portion; wherein by screw-joining the female-threaded portion onto the male-threaded portion the flange-fastening member sandwiches the front flange portion between and fastens it to the inner barrel member. In this case the front flange itself is not screw-joined onto the male-threaded portion, but by screw-joining the flange-fastening member onto the male-threaded portion, the front flange is sandwiched between the flange-fastening member and the inner barrel member, and fastened. The front flange therefore may be located freely into position in the circumferential direction.
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in any of the sixth through tenth aspects, the front flange has an annular groove formed opposing the inner flange portion, and the inner flange portion is inserted into the annular groove. In this case, inserting the inner flange portion into the annular groove restrains the inner flange portion from shifting radially outward, which therefore fortifies the strength of the bobbin trunk.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in the eleventh aspect, an annular protrusion is formed on the part of the inner barrel member where the inner flange portion is disposed, projecting frontward beyond the rest; and the annular protrusion is inserted into the annular groove. The inner barrel member in this case is also inserted into the annular groove and thereby reinforced, which further heightens the strength of the bobbin-trunk front end, and makes it unlikely to deform, making line-gnawing occurrences unlikely.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in any of the first through twelfth aspects, the inner barrel member is made of synthetic resin. In this case, the spool may be formed at low cost while being made lightweight overall.
According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in any of the fifth through thirteenth aspects, the bobbin trunk portion is formed integrally with the skirt portion by press-working the sheet metal. In this case, a spool overall lightened in weight may be devised by a pressing process such as drawing.
According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in any the first through fourteenth aspects, further including a line-intrusion prevention member, fitted in the gap where the joining surfaces of the bobbin trunk portion and the front flange portion are outwardly exposed.
In this case, the line-intrusion prevention member in the spool as such is installed in the gap where the joining surfaces of the bobbin trunk portion and the front flange portion are outwardly exposed. Therefore, owing to the line-intrusion prevention member, because a gap is not created in between the bobbin trunk portion and the front flange, intrusion of the fishing-line may be prevented. Likewise, the line-intrusion prevention member being provided in between the front flange and the bobbin trunk portion makes it unnecessary to fabricate the sections for the fit between the bobbin trunk portion and the front flange with a high degree of precision, and therefore the two may be formed readily and at low cost.
According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in the fifteenth aspect, the line-intrusion prevention member is a ring element manufactured of a synthetic resin. In this case, by utilizing for example a synthetic resin having elasticity, though manufacturing discrepancies to some extent may arise in the bobbin trunk portion and front flange, the line-intrusion prevention member will easily absorb the discrepancies.
According to an seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in the fifteenth through sixteenth aspects, the front flange has a crook portion bent over to the bobbin trunk portion; and the line-intrusion prevention member is installed in between the outer circumferential surface of the bobbin trunk portion and the inner periphery of the crook portion. In this case, the front flange is formed, by a spinning process for example, into a contour in which it is crooked over to the bobbin trunk portion, i.e., toward the rear. Herein, by providing the line-intrusion prevention member in the gap in between the inner periphery of the crook portion, where it is comparatively hard to produce precision, and the circumferential surface of the bobbin trunk portion, seizing of the fishing line may reliably be prevented.
According to a eighteenth aspect of the present invention, a spool as in the seventeenth aspect, the line-intrusion prevention member is formed in a contour for smoothly connecting the rear surface of the crook portion and the outer circumferential surface of the bobbin trunk portion. In this case, the fact that the line-intrusion prevention member, and the bobbin trunk portion and crook-portion rear face are smoothly connected without a gap forming in between lets seizing of the fishing line be further prevented.
According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in a spool as in any the fifteenth through eighteenth aspects, the bobbin trunk portion has an inner flange portion formed integrally with the cylindrical portion and extending radially inward along the front end of said inner barrel member, and the line-intrusion prevention member is installed in between the front flange and the inner flange portion. In this case, while an inner flange is provided to maintain high strength in the bobbin trunk portion, line-intrusion between the front flange and the inner flange portion may be reliably prevented.
According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, a spool as in the third aspect further includes a fishing line lock for locking an end of the fishing line held between the rear flange portion and the nut member.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment of the present invention.